Top Questions and
Answers and Notes about the Poem “In Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’” By
Thomas Hardy:
Top Questions and
Answers and Notes about the Poem “In Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’” By
Thomas Hardy:
Question:
What does the time of the Breaking of
Nations signify? What will remain undisturbed even in such a time?
Or
Describe the three country pictures
given in Hardy’s poem. Is there a comparison between permanence and impermanence?
Answer:
In his poem Thomas Hardy speaks of the
time during war among nations. This is the time of destruction and death. But
Hardy sings of the glory of the elemental and eternal processes of life during
the period of war ravages. This he does through the presentation of three
simple country pictures. These pictures represent three different walks of
life. An old farmer is slowly and silently breaking the clods with an old
horse. War cannot stop them. A thin smoke rises out from the heaps of burning
cauch grass. It indicates the continuity of domestic life. The third picture
presents a maid and her wight lost in making love.
In
the Bible we read that God says he will break the nations and bring
destruction. In this poem Hardy contests this view. He argues that war breaks
nations to pieces but elemental processes of life remain undisturbed.
Cultivation, domestic life and love making triumph over war’s ravages. The
title of the poem is apt. Pessimistic poet is optimistic here.
